Nyuto Onsen Walking Part II

More photos we took while strolling around Taenoyu Onsen in Nyuto Onsen. See earlier post of Nyuto Onsen Walking, Part I too. Yea, so there are endless photos of this place and plenty that I've yet to share.

And if there is just one more reader who is like me, I bet that reader appreciate the fact there are extensive photos of any place that he/she is looking & researching at. No? Who cares if it's just me anyway. xD

The Sendatsu river. It must be nice to go and take a dip there, but even in mid-September; the weather was already chilly in this part of Japan. I think I'd freeze over if I dare to dip my feet in it!

 The bus stop located right across the street from Taenoyu Onsen.

Some random flowers we saw

In front of Ogama Onsen. Not a soul can be seen early in the morning. It was before breakfast time, after all. What better time to have a quiet couple walk together with the one you love? <3

and there's water, water, water flowing everywhere here. Hot spring water too!

A foot bath at Ogama Onsen, located a few hundred metres from Taenoyu Onsen.

We even saw an old water pump. No, it's not in working condition, I think...

I wish I can take a dip in some hot spring water soon. Never mind. I'll just settle for a dip in the bath tub instead for the time being. ^^

On The Way To Nyuto Onsen...

We took the Akita Shinkansen Komachi from Ueno Station to Tazawako Station for our one night stay at Taenoyu Onsen in Nyuto Onsen. I know I've posted endless post about Tazawako and Nyuto Onsen but hey! Why not post another one lest one stray visitor looking for some info chances upon this blog. ^^

Sorry. I am shameless enough to rehash old stories until it's time for me to make a new one. (3 more months to go, folks! And you bet I'll be blogging real time from Japan)

Anyways, if you want to read more about the area, just click on the either Akita, Tazawako or Nyuto Onsen tags listed at my sidebar. 

At Tazawako Station. This dragon head reminds me that there is the Kakunodate Yama Festival from Sep 7th - 9th. We were supposed to go last year but as we changed our travel date at the last minute and arriving later, no floats crashing were witnessed by us. Just the thought of seeing two floats facing each other and crashing over the right-of-way is downright awesome.

By changing the travel last minute last year, we screwed our hard to get, need 6 months in advance room reservation to spend a night in a room with no electricity and has an irori right smack in the middle of the room at Tsurunoyu Onsen. There were other rooms available but what's the fun in staying in other "normal" room. I want the whole rustic, sleep like samurais experience!

Before making our way to Nyuto Onsen; a quick bento lunch for Raimie. Om nom nom...

Then it was time to board the bus. We got on the bus at bus stop no. 1 and made a stop at Lake Tazawa as planned.

At the rest area by the Lake, are shops and there are free food samples there. Free sampling galore for us. Didn't go out empty-handed; we bought ourselves a postcard bearing the photo of Tatsuko and Raimie got his wish to eat a "goma"/sesame soft ice-cream. ;p

A view of the lovely, pristine Lake Tazawa. You know, I'm all crazy about running nowadays (I'm  gonna run in the Putrajaya Night Marathon next month. Yeay!) so I should just mention here that Lake Tazawa will be holding its 26th Annual Marathon on Sunday, Sep 18th. Maybe I should enter one year, should our travel date to Japan coincide with the marathon. After all, the Tokyo Marathon would be soooooo out of my league if I ever harbour the hope of running races in Japan! ^^!

I wonder if "Barutan Seijin" will be running again this year. Unlike in Ultraman, Barutan Seijin is a nice alien at Tazawako Marathon. He was an escort runner for one visually impaired runner. Salute to both runners! Much respect from me to them.

After sightseeing, it was time to board the bus again and head to Nyuto Onsen. Off we go! We were rewarded with these awesome views along the way:

Breathtaking view of the lake, of the mountains and of course rice fields.

We arrived Taenoyu Onsen just in time for check-in. Why waste getting there late instead of being there right on the dot the exact time you are allowed to check-in? Kakaka

Nyuto Onsen Walking Part I

A night at Taenoyu Onsen, one of eight onsen ryokan located in the mountains of Eastern Akita prefecture is bliss. Surrounded by greenery, we enjoyed crisp, clean air that refreshed and rejuvenate us. After hectic days of sightseeing and rushing everywhere, it's really nice to sit back and chill and let the slow pace of life be the tonic for more hectic days to come. ^^

The front view of Taenoyu Onsen. There's a bus stop located right in front of this ryokan, so if you are taking a bus here, it's just a matter of crossing the road when you arrived. A staff  immediately came out and greeted us even before we stepped in the ryokan. Taking a bus for our return journey was easy too. We just sat at the bench in front of the ryokan until the bus came and stopped for us.

Taenoyu Onsen is located beside the Sendatsu river. This is the view from our room and it was sure nice to sleep with the sound of flowing dream accompanying our slumber. Sleep well, we did!

On a rather cold morning on the second day we were there, after a really refreshing dip in the hot water; I decided to take a walk and enjoy the fresh air. I didn't venture out too far, though. Wouldn't want to get lost, would we? *^-^*

Another view of Sendatsu river, through the trees

Found a small shrine by the foot of the hill/mountain right next to Taenoyu Onsen

What/which God/Goddess is this?

It was already chilly when we were there although it was still the summer months. It was nice to spend the days in colder areas of Akita instead of returning to a hotter Tokyo afterwards!

Then, we decided it might be nice to walk out further and check out the area. Stay tuned for the upcoming photos. :)

Tazawako By Day

If you remember, I posted up some sunset photos of the Lake earlier. If you don't, then check out my post : Sunset In Tazawako.

Lake Tawaza is the Japan's deepest lake with its depth of 423 metres (by comparison, Tokyo Tower is 333metres tall & Tokyo Skytree is 634metres). The lake is 20km in circumference  and has an  almost a perfect circular shape. Its water used to be one of the clearest in Japan, together with Lake Mashu in Hokkaido, but is now slightly polluted since the construction of a dam in 1940.  The appearance of the lake and its sapphire-blue colored water tends to change dramatically with the sunlight and the clouds, creating a rather mysterious atmosphere. This might be the origin of the most famous legend of the area, that of Tatsuko.

According to legend, Tatsuko was a beautiful girl who prayed to retain her beauty forever. She drank the water of the lake and turned into a big dragon and sank to the bottom of the lake.Just google them up if you need to know more about the legend. Or maybe, head over to Tazawako Tourism Association's English blog for more on the legend.

The lake area. The lake can be viewed either by taking the ferry (or by paddling the swan boats, if you chose to), walking or renting a bike to circle the lake.

There's a rest stop near the lake,where one can find places to eat and buy souvenirs. Raimie had a very nice goma ice-cream there, and his Mommy and Daddy went on a free food sampling binge in one of the shops.

 If you do decide to walk or cycle around, the road is quite narrow so beware of approaching cars! But no worries - when we were walking there, we met quite a number of runners doing their evening run and cars were careful of them.

A campsite nearby the lake area. Fancy camping there? I would love to try someday, after I armed myself with plenty of mosquito repellent, that is. :[

Remember the dragon head in the earlier post? Well, the two adults traveling with Raimie just couldn't resist poking our heads into stuff we weren't suppose to!

Anyhoo, anyone interested in Sakura beer or limited edition pink sake - click the link here and here. Don't mope around and be all doom and gloom in the face of adversity (I'm talking about the March 11 earthquake & tsunami) Support local industry and drink some booze, I say.

BTW, Check out Ichigoichielove's Show Me Japan Vol1 Issue 21 this week.

Sunset In Tazawako

Unlike in 2009, when we spent a night in Nyuto Onsen; located in the Akita Prefecture of Tohoku region, we only spent a few hours at the lake area last year. 

Waiting for the last bus to get back to Tazawako Station, we enjoyed the sunset sitting by the lake while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes!

Pity no dragon was to be found at the Lake. We did find a dragon head at the station though! Raimie did find something more fun (for him, at least) - a Kamen Rider can drink! XD

You are able to get to see a dragon or two over at Tazawako Station, even though it's just the heads. The bigger one on the platform is used for their annual float-crashing festival, I'm told.

And you can see my naked photo here, if you are interested in that kind of thing. ^^

Check out Ichigoichielove's Show Me Japan Vol 1 Issue 21 too!

Day 3 In Japan - Part II Loitering Around Tazawako

One of the reason we go up to Akita was to make a stop at Tazawako and meet up with someone there. For those who has been reading this blog long, you might remember we've been to Tazawako last year and stayed at Taenoyu Onsen in Nyuto Onsen.

Our initial plan to stay at Tsurunyu Onsen this year didn't pan out and we've arranged to stay and enjoy some onsens elsewhere later this week.

Going up to Akita, you get on the Komachi Shinkansen and some of the bullet trains came with Pokemon motifs on the trains' body.

Arriving Tazawako station, we went to the tourism office there to pass something to a friend. We tried to arrange to meet but as luck would have it, she had to go on a business trip the day we were there. I guess, we just have to make a return visit someday.

One thing you can see in this area is how the promotion of a Korean drama IRIS can be seen everywhere even at the hotel we were staying in. Some scenes in the drama were shot there, and it was now being used to promote the area.

Waiting for our bus that will be stopping at the nearby bus stop, we walked around and check out the exhibitions there.

If you plan to make a day trip to this area, do come early. The place went dead early. By 5.30pm,  the nearby lake area is  already deserted.

But we get to enjoy a beautiful sunset there and only left when it was already dark;on the last bus from the area at 6.45pm.

Nyuto Onsen, Here We Come

A return visit to Nyuto Onsenkyo is on the cards for us for this year's trip. Last year we went to Taenoyu Onsen and had a really great time and we are planning to spend a night in Tsurunoyu Onsen, which is the oldest operating ryokan in Nyuto Onsenkyo this year. With the help of S-san, we were informed that the very room we were eyeing is available. No harm in booking a room early, especially when the rooms there are often fully booked.

The name Tsurunoyu means " Crane's Bath Hot Spring" and the name originated from the legend of a local hunter; Kansuke who saw a crane bathing in the spring to heal her wound. A soak in the baths is said to help cure ailments such as cuts, high blood pressure and eye problems.

This room does looks nice, doesn't it? Imagine sleeping in a 350 years old samurai guard quarters with no electricity. We will be spending a night like Japanese of yesteryears. It would be fun eating dinner around the irori too.  Tsurunoyu Onsen is a slice of old Japan with its traditional wooden buildings, indoor and outdoor baths, tatami rooms and delectable Japanese dinners. We can't wait to stay there!

If you are a fan of Korean drama, IRIS; Tsurunoyu Onsen is one of the location site where some of the scenes in the drama were filmed in Akita Prefecture. To know more about the location site, head to Oh Tazawako, Where Art Thou? blog. If you want to have more information on Tazawako, you can find it at the blog too. A wealth of information on Tazawako to be found there.

Seems like the Akita Prefecture Tourism Agency spent quite a lot of effort promoting the area connecting it to the Korean Drama. I was informed that the number of Korean tourists went up threefold after the drama was aired, which is good news for the area.

Zaini even found a Japanese language travel guide book at Kinokuniya highlighting the location site of IRIS.

You can see the main character Kim Hyun Joon (played by Lee Byeong Heon) and Choi Seung Hee (Kim Tae Hui) at Tsurunoyu Onsen and in the last photo in front of Tatsuko Statue.

Hmm... should I get Raimie to take photo of his Mom and Dad posing the same way too? :D